Octopus trial advances alpha-lipoic acid for progressive MS

Interim results from the Octopus trial, a world-first multi-arm, multi-stage adaptive clinical trial, have shown encouraging early signs for alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) as a potential treatment to slow the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS).

The adaptive trial model allows researchers to test several treatments simultaneously, continuing those that show promise while discontinuing those that do not. Consequently, while ALA has moved to the second stage of testing, the diabetes medication metformin will be discontinued from the study after failing to demonstrate positive findings.

The research is being conducted at hospitals across the United Kingdom and Australia, involving more than 850 participants. The trial is led internationally by Professor Jeremy Chataway of University College London, with the PLATYPUS extension led by Professor Simon Broadley at Griffith University in Australia. Researchers noted that while the results for ALA are exciting, patients should not attempt to source the drug outside of a controlled clinical trial setting.